When Kelvin Burnett was a child he and his friends spent a lot of time diving from the Wooton Park dock for long swims in Lake Dora. As an adult, he perfers to stay on shore and remember the days when the lake was cleaner.However, memories are not enough for the 25-year-old man. Neither are they adequate for Jim Doak, 49, who visited Florida frequently before making Tavares his home last year.The lifelong resident and newcomer are both eager to protect Lake Dora and other lakes from pollution.

Orange County Commissioners sided with Keene's Pointe residents on Tuesday. In a 5-2 vote, they relaxed land-use rules in a move opponents said could lead to weakened protections on the protected Butler Chain of Lakes. It's the second time the gated community of more than 1,000 homes was at the center of such a dispute. Two years ago, Keene's Pointe persuaded commissioners to keep open a canal that gave homeowners on a cove access to the larger chain of lakes. Not far from that same canal, the community built a homeowners-association activity center on a two-acre parcel set aside for a park area, despite warnings that it didn't meet zoning rules.

An eight-story resort will be built next year at Lake Cecile, but help could be on the way to ensure the lake doesn't get any dirtier.Plans for the 144-unit time-share resort east of the lake were approved Monday night by Osceola County commissioners, who also agreed to work to prevent the once-pristine lake from becoming more polluted.Commissioners pledged to try to ban or limit personal watercraft and other motorized boats from using the lake. The county's lake-management committee, meanwhile, will study how to reduce pollution there.

A conservation project located between the Wekiva basin and Ocala National Forest has received financial help from TD Bank's forest initiative. The bank, one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., is helping The Nature Conservancy with the Hollywood Pines tract, a 631-acre parcel east of the rural Pine Lakes neighborhood. It is adjacent to the Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park and east of S.R. 44. The Nature Conservancy bought the land for $680,000 in 2011 because it's a key parcel in the corridor between Wekiva and the Ocala forest.

The newly formed Lake County Commission must find ways to link a sound environment with a sound economy. The opportunity to make this connection will come soon, as it helps decide the fate of Lake Apopka. Lake Apopka once was the gem of Central Florida. Widely known as a fishing paradise, the lake was a shining example of biodiversity, with a landscape of stunning beauty. But decades of pollutants from development and farming operations on the lake's north shore nearly killed the sprawling water body.

When Richard Napotnik bought his lakefront home, he discounted the horror stories he had heard about Lake Apopka and assumed the lake eventually would get cleaned up.He's still hoping, after 16 years of living on the state's most polluted lake.Napotnik and his neighbors still dream of the day they can swim, water ski and enjoy the water like other lakefront property owners in Florida. They wait for a day when the water is clear and the pungent odors and occasional fish kills are a fading memory.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and eight governors Friday announced a voluntary anti-pollution program for the Great Lakes that targets the auto industry and gives special attention to Lake Superior. EPA administrator William Reilly set a goal of cutting toxic chemical releases into the Great Lakes by 33 percent by the end of 1992. Among other things, the program calls for developing a plan to protect Lake Superior's high-quality water, working with Chrysler, Ford and General Motors on plans to limit pollution and launching pilot programs to prevent water pollution from runoff and other non-industrial sources in urban areas.

I HAVE listened over and over again to a local morning radio station bash the Lake County Water Authority, either by suggesting to do away with it, put it up for vote in a referendum, or advising that the board members be elected instead of appointed by the governor.This tactic tricks people into giving an answer they know nothing about.The Lake County Water Authority is excellent just as it is. There is no need to change it. A small number of people have managed to convince some people that the water authority is not needed because of overlapping jurisdiction with the St. Johns River Water Management District.

The Lake Improvement Association will meet Jan. 7 to organize its 1986 campaign to help protect Lake County's waterways.David Meek, who will be installed as president during the meeting, said the 1,000-member organization plans to become more active and visible in environmental matters than in the past. The association last month sponsored a meeting of environmental agencies and water users, the first meeting of its kind.Other officers to be installed during the 7:30 p.m. meeting at Citizens National Bank are: Thelma Mellon, first vice president; Bob Kennedy, second vice president; Mary Francis, treasurer; and Dorothy Novotny, secretary.

President Reagan laid the foundation for the federal government to assume a key role in Lake Okeechobee's cleanup when he signed a bill in Washington Friday authorizing a high-tech model of the endangered ecosystem.The project first proposed by Rep. Tom Lewis, R-Palm Beach, directs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a computerized representation of the lake and its surrounding area. Supporters say the model will help determine the effectiveness of cleanup strategies before they are actually implemented.

More than a dozen people have signed on with a program meant to ensure that Lake Winona in Clermont and Silver Lake in Leesburg will thrive in the future, but officials say they can use more help. Lake County's Adopt-A-Lake program, which lets residents improve water-quality conditions on the area's most vulnerable waterways, recently branched out to focus on the two lakes. But now organizers say more residents must step up, adding that it will take many dedicated people to reduce pollutants on area waterways and help these lakes flourish.

Phew. Soon we can all relax. The St. Johns River Water Management District has it covered. In three years, it says, folks can quit worrying about the water withdrawals it now encourages governments to make from Lake Apopka and other nearby lakes. By then, it largely will turn off the spigot. Don't believe it. The district for years has skirted its legal obligations to protect area lakes and rivers by setting water levels needed to keep them safe. Relax? At our peril. The district is getting around to doing this only because the Lake County Water Authority forced the issue.

TAVARES -- The mother of a Lake County boy who was sexually abused by his pastor has sued the clergyman, two area churches and two Baptist groups, maintaining they should have protected her son. The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory damages for the boy's continuing psychotherapy from the Rev. Douglas W. Myers, his defunct Triangle Community Church in Eustis, Bay Street Baptist Church in Eustis, the Lake County Baptist Association and the Jacksonville-based Florida...

MOSCOW -- Russia's environmental agency gave final approval Monday to a plan to build a 2,550-mile oil pipeline past the world's largest freshwater lake, a spokesman said. The pipeline will allow Russia to increase its oil exports to China, Japan and South Korea. But environmentalists have long railed against the project, warning that a rupture could cause irreparable damage to protected Lake Baikal, less than a half-mile away.

MASCOTTE -- The city soon may resume work on a long-delayed project to keep polluted storm water out of Sunset Lake. Officials expect to submit plans as early as this month to the Lake County Water Authority, which helped to fund several improvements around the lake to treat dirty rainwater flushing in from surrounding development south of State Road 50. The latter part of the project included buying a mobile home and land from former City Council member...

After years of dumping the nasty pollution lurking on the streets of Eustis into Lake Eustis through one of the largest drainpipes in the county, relief is in sight for the lake, part of the Harris Chain. The Lake County Water Authority and the city of Eustis agreed recently to somehow redirect the polluted storm water to a treatment facility or retention pond. The cost: $1.6 million. And worth every penny. The 6-foot-wide pipe that exists now carries fertilizers, motor oil, chemicals and trash from homes and businesses right into the lake.

Au revoir, Georges.Good riddance to an unpredictable nuisance that left emergency workers scurrying to protect Lake County's residents and the temporary guests who fled south Florida to avoid a beating from the hurricane.Lake County escaped with barely a spit of rain in most places and no reported damage as Georges swept north through the Gulf Saturday for a Sunday date with the Panhandle.Emergency workers reported 46 people had checked into shelters in Lake by late Friday night - all from out of town.

About 50 people turned out Wednesday night to hear an official from the Florida League of Anglers talk about saving Lake Tohopekaliga.Philip D. Cady, executive director of the league, was invited to Kissimmee by Robby Robinson, owner of Big Toho Marina. Robinson, like so many other local anglers, is concerned about the condition of Lake Tohopekaliga.''Have you been south of Brown's Point lately?'' Robinson asked another fisherman. ''If you had, you'd see that there's nothing there but dead and smelly vegetation, and that's because they've sprayed everything in the area.

FOUR CORNERS -- A new restoration project will help keep water flowing through the Clermont Chain of Lakes during Florida's long, dry winter months. The Lake County Water Authority and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are replacing decades-old pipelines that guide water from the Green Swamp into the Clermont Chain. The project is designed to improve water flow by lowering some pipes and adding several more between Riddick Groves and South Yancey roads in south Lake just west of U.S. Highway 27. The water is directed underneath both roads toward Big and Little creeks, which feed into Lake Louisa and up through the chain.

TALLAHASSEE -- The bald eagles and gopher tortoises can rest a bit easier tonight. The state has agreed to spend nearly $3 million to protect about 1,800 more acres of the Green Swamp -- an environmentally sensitive area threatened by development. The rolling area of waterways, ridges and cypress trees that straddles Lake and Polk counties is critical to protecting clean drinking water for much of the state, officials said. Environmentalists quickly praised the action. "It's a significant purchase," said Charles Lee, Audubon of Florida vice president.